Leading international lawyer argues Scotland and rUK will be “co-equal successor states” to EU

21/01/2013

Dunfermline MSP Bill Walker has welcomed comments from a top-level international lawyer and academic that post-independence Scotland will be a “co-equal successor” to the EU along with the rest of the UK (rUK).

Professor David Scheffer – formerly Special Advisor to Madeleine Albright at the United Nations and first US Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues under the Clinton administration, and currently lecturing at North Western University School of Law – asserted:

“My argument quite frankly is that we have two co-equal successor states.

“The smart move is to say, ‘look, if it happens – namely if the referendum actually, you know, achieves a “Yes” vote for independence – there will be a path developed for the continued participation of the Scottish people and thus of the new nation of Scotland or the restored nation of Scotland in the European Union”.

Mr Walker said: “Professor Scheffer’s comments are sensible and welcome. It has always been my conviction that Scotland and the remainder of the UK will be equal successor states to the EU and other bodies such as the UN. When Scotland and England entered into the political Treaty of the Union, following the earlier monarchical Union of Crowns, they did so as equals. Scotland was not a ‘junior partner’.

“Both Scotland and England remain countries in their own right, not regions of the UK. They will therefore be recognised equally when succeeding to the EU and elsewhere.

“The main threat right now is not that Scotland will have to apply for re-admittance to the EU while the rUK remains a member. The threat is that David Cameron’s Conservatives will secure an EU referendum forcing Scotland to leave the EU along with the rest of the UK whether Scots vote to do so or not. England’s larger population will make that decision for us.

“Under these circumstances, it is therefore completely hypocritical and disingenuous of the Tory-led Better Together campaign to put out endless stories about Scotland having to reapply to the EU while the rUK remains a member. It is now clear that an independent Scotland will, along with the rest of the UK, be able to negotiate our terms to remain in the EU without reapplying to join – or indeed, Scotland can choose to leave on our own terms.

“I want to see a strong Scotland with its own voice at the top tables in Europe, not Scotland isolated from Europe and at the mercy of Westminster.”